by Dale Brown
The president turned to Ann Page. “Dr. Page, you have a long and distinguished career, but to me you seem to take great delight in shaking up the system. As an engineer and former member of Congress, that’s probably a good thing-but as a member of my administration, it most definitely is not.”
“Mr. President, it’s not my intention to shake anything up,” Ann said. “We had the technology to build an entirely new defensive and offensive weapon system and take the U.S. military to the next level. The technology may be immature and imperfect, but as we saw, it’s viable.”
“Viable? You missed the target and killed a lot of civilians, Dr. Page.”
“I’m sorry about that, Mr. President,” Ann said sincerely. “While I don’t believe that the ends justifies the means, we did stop the Pakistanis from launching any more rockets.”
The president closed his eyes and shook his head. “I’ll tell that to the United Nations: We put out a house fire by blowing up the dam and flooding the town,” he said. “So we have an immature and unreliable weapon system that is controversial to say the least, incomplete, and bound to cause a major outcry if not an outright global arms race. What do you propose I do about this?”
“Resolve to win the race, sir,” Ann said immediately. “With current funding, it will take another fifteen to twenty-four months to complete the Kingfisher constellation. We have a plan to draw on Air Force and Navy budget resources and complete the constellation in ten months or less, along with making improvements in detection capabilities, self-defense to counter the growing Russian and Chinese antisatellite threat, and weapon accuracy.”
“Navy budget resources, eh?” Secretary of Defense Turner asked. “Such as?”
Ann looked at Secretary Banderas. When he hesitated, she replied: “BAMS and ForceNet, Mr. Secretary, among others.”
“What?” Turner exclaimed. His astonished expression slowly turned into one of amusement. “You want to downsize two of the biggest and most cutting-edge naval surveillance and information networking systems?”
“We don’t want to downsize them, Mr. Secretary-we want to cancel them,” Banderas said.
“Cancel them?” Turner asked incredulously. “They’re not even fully implemented yet!”
“Exactly why they should be canceled, sir,” Banderas went on.
“The Broad Area Maritime Surveillance program is based around old technology-”
“Global Hawk may be old, but it’s proven technology.”
“Global Hawk is proven, but compared to emerging space technology, it’s slow, vulnerable, costly and difficult to sustain and support, limited by availability of shore facilities, and in its current configuration has no strike capability, sir,” Banderas went on.
“ForceNet is seven years in the making but is far over budget, is still not fully operational, and isn’t fully integrated into other services’ computer network systems. For network systems managed by major non-Navy commands such as U.S. Strategic Command, ForceNet will demand an upgrade of their network infrastructures to mesh, with the costs estimated in the tens of billions of dollars and another ten years. That means that ForceNet would probably never be tied into other networks as it was designed to be.”
“Once completed, Kingfisher can act as a global fleet communications-and-reconnaissance system,” Ann jumped in. “Our systems are already tied into several services’ reconnaissance and surveillance networks, including the Navy’s, along with Strategic Command, the National Reconnaissance Office, and even the CIA. Everyone in Washington has accessed our imagery, used our communications relays, and taken advantage of our global Internet access and secure data network-and the system is only half finished.”
“The Navy is never going to cancel two vital programs to invest in these orbital weapon garages,” Turner said.
“Nor should they,” the president said. “It’s not going to happen. I supported maritime Global Hawk and ForceNet from day one-I’m not about to kill them, especially for an unproven system.”
“It’s not unproven anymore, sir,” Kai said. Barbeau’s eyes fairly twinkled when he spoke.
“I’m not convinced the land-attack missile portion is ready, General,” the president said. “The missile defense part is impressive, but I’m not ready to cancel important programs for other services for a global missile defense shield. We spend a lot of money on missile defense for the United States already-defending India is not in our budget.”
He got to his feet, and everyone else followed suit. “Good to see you, Sal,” he said, shaking hands with the Air Force secretary. “We’ll discuss this and let you know how it’ll be.”
“I’ve got the entire proposal ready for your review, Mr. President,” Banderas said. “I know you’ll be surprised and pleased with the program.”
The president ignored the last-second sales pitch. “Dr. Page, good to see you again,” he said, shaking her hand next. “Deploying a new weapon system is a process, as I’m sure you are very aware. If you spring it on the world all at once like this, folks put up an immediate negative reaction to it-and that goes double for something this different.”
“I know very well, Mr. President, after all my work on Skybolt and in the Senate Armed Services Committee,” Ann said. “But Kingfisher is what’s needed now for global reconnaissance and a truly rapid-reaction ballistic-missile defense and global strike.”
The White House chief of staff, Walter Kordus, could see the president’s exasperation at the chatter and began herding the visitors out the door. Kai Raydon stuck out a hand before Kordus could reach him, and the president shook it. “Nice to meet you, Mr. President,” he said.
“Same, General,” Gardner responded curtly before Kordus finally corralled the visitors and led them outside, trailing them with a chorus of thank-yous.
“I’d be happy to talk to those people for you next time, Mr. President,” Secretary of Defense Turner said after all but he, Conrad Carlyle, and Stacy Anne Barbeau stayed behind. “They’re starting to sound like used-car salesmen. And I had no inkling they were going to propose killing BAMS and ForceNet for their space stuff. They must be breathing too much rare gas or something.”
“I’m not about to kill any Navy programs for this Thor’s Hammer thing,” the president said. “It is indeed impressive-just impressive enough to offer it up to the Russians, Chinese, North Koreans, or anyone else we need to make a deal with. Otherwise we threaten to start launching more weapon garages into space, and they’ll have to spend trillions to counter it.”
A phone rang, and Kordus answered it immediately-calls that came in to the Situation Room during meetings were always emergencies. He handed it over to Barbeau. “Barbeau…what’s up, Ben?…What?…Great Lord, what in God’s name?…Okay, Ben, call the senior staff together right away. I’ll be there shortly.” She hung up the phone. “ Islamabad has recalled its ambassador to Washington,” she said to the president, “and the ISI has arrested twenty-seven Pakistanis who work at our embassy, accusing them of spying for the United States. Further, the warship visiting Karachi is being barred from leaving port until the ISI inspects it.”
“Here it starts,” the president said wearily. “Walter, get Mazar on the phone for me. Stacy Anne, you talk to the Pakistani foreign minister. Ask them to reconsider those orders, or at least change the order to ‘return for consultations’ or something less flammable than ‘recall,’ and ask them to release the embassy staff. They don’t want to start a diplomatic squabble over an incident that everyone wants to keep hidden in the basement. We have pictures of those missiles and a full transcript of the launch and engagement-they wouldn’t want us to release those videos.” Barbeau hurried away to her office at the State Department. “Conrad…”
“I’ll see what I can do about getting that ship released,” the president’s national security adviser said. “We probably gave every Pakistani naval officer and local government official a tour of that ship already-they shouldn’t be demanding inspections.”
> The president nodded. “And I want to get briefed on contingency plans in case we’re barred from Pakistani ports and airfields-how do we sustain Afghanistan operations if we can’t bring in supplies through Pakistan.” He ran a hand through his hair in exasperation. “I almost wish we let the Paks fire off another missile. Let’s get busy.”
THREE
You will soon break the bow if you keep it always stretched.
– PHAEDRUS
MINISTRY OF DEFENSE, BEIJING, PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
DAYS LATER
The conference table in the office of the minister of defense of the People’s Republic of China was strewn with black-and-white and color photographs attached to larger pieces of cardboard with descriptive notes around the edges. Nothing too terribly important-looking could be discerned in the pictures by themselves, but the minister of defense, Zung Chunxian, a sixty-one-year-old career bureaucrat with thin dark hair, thick glasses, and a thick waistline, stared at them as if he were looking at works of ancient Chinese art.
“Identification?” he asked the military officer before him as he lit a cigarette.
“We believe it was an unmanned reconnaissance vehicle, sir,” General Hua Zhilun, commander of 11th Strategic Rocket Forces of the People’s Liberation Army, replied. Young for a general officer at age fifty-three, Hua was lean, fit, and polished. He, too, wore spectacles, but he put them away as he addressed the minister. Hua was in charge of the newest division of the Strategic Rocket Forces based on Hainan Island: offensive long-range ballistic-missile forces with targets in space and at sea instead of land. “The sensor package has not yet been recovered, but I am confident that is what it is. Most certainly American.”
“Where could it have come from?”
“Most unmanned aerial vehicles today have very long-range and loiter capability, and could have come from thousands of miles away,” Hua replied, “but the shape of this one suggests it was submarine-launched. The Americans and British both employ UAVs that can be launched from submerged missile or torpedo tubes.”
“Ingenious,” Zung said. “But why use such a device over Hainan Island, when they certainly have satellites that can do a better job without fear of being shot down?”
“A satellite’s orbit and position at any given time can be predicted with high accuracy, sir, which can give one time to hide something that one does not want to be photographed,” Hua said. “Unmanned air vehicles such as this can pop up anywhere and anytime.”
“So the attack missiles on Hainan Island have been discovered?”
“We must assume they have, sir,” Hua said. “It is of little consequence.”
“Why do you say that, General?”
“The deterrent effect of the Dong Feng-21 missiles is much greater than their actual demonstrated capabilities, sir.”
“What do you mean?”
“To be quite honest, sir, the DF-21 antisatellite and antiship weapons are mostly for show as of yet,” Hua explained.
The defense minister’s eyes bulged with indignation. “Zhe shi shen-me yi-si? What did you say?”
“They are reliable and effective in their primary role as intermediate-range ballistic land-attack missiles, sir,” Hua explained, “but they have hardly been tested in their new roles. We were able to successfully intercept one satellite in a carefully rehearsed exercise with an absolutely fine-tuned weapon, but it is quite another matter to deploy a cold-soaked missile that has been in a transporter tube in a corrosive marine environment for a long period of time and have it successfully launch, track, and hit its target, even if the target is not maneuvering or dispersing countermeasures.”
“So why have we spent billions of yuan on them?” Zung asked incredulously. “Why would my predecessor agree to such a thing?”
“Because the Americans began deploying their Kingfisher antisatellite and antiballistic-missile weapons,” Hua replied, “and honored Defense Minister Chi wanted to respond in kind and as quickly as possible. We could argue that the Americans have the same problem with their Kingfisher weapon containers-space is far more hostile than salt air or terrestrial weather-but they chose to deploy them as they continue to test and upgrade them, and China had to respond in like manner.”
“So it is an empty force, a hollow threat, and a waste of money?” Zung asked.
“We really do not know for sure, sir, unless we test the systems more often,” Hua said. “But for the kind of tests we require to fully validate the DF-21 system, we need to launch at real satellites from real installations, not merely at simulated targets or on the Lop Nor instrumented test ranges. That means launching targets into orbit. My budget requested twenty million yuan per month for the next fifteen months just to test the antisatellite and antiship versions of the DF-21. It was turned down because the increased test tempo would certainly alert and possibly alarm the Americans.”
“I think that is not a consideration any longer, General, especially now that we know that Washington is stepping up deployment of those weapon satellites and being much more aggressive in surveillance,” Minister Zung said. “It will take some time to resubmit your requested testing funds, but I think this time they will be approved.” He paused for a moment, then said, “But are there other targets on which to test?”
“Other targets, sir?” Hua asked. He paused as well, then shook his head. “I know of no other suitable defunct or out-of-service satellites, sir,” he replied, “except the weather satellite we plan to use for the upcoming sea-launched weapon test. We could possibly inquire of our allies or commercial operators to see if-”
“What about satellites that are not defunct or out of service,” Zung asked, “and do not belong to our allies or ourselves?”
“Sir?” Hua was confused…but only for a moment. His eyes widened in surprise, and Zung thought he noticed the beginnings of a devilish smile on the corners of the young general’s lips. “Sir, are you suggesting…?”
“I am suggesting, General Hua,” Zung said, stubbing out his cigarette, “that if an opportunity would present itself to conduct a very realistic test of our antiship and antisatellite weapons, and if you notified me in a timely manner, I am quite certain both the Central Military Commission and the Military Committee of the Party Central Committee will approve it. Do you understand me, General?”
200 M ILES OFF THE C OAST OF M OGADISHU, S OMALIA
SEVERAL DAYS LATER
“Pan-pan, pan-pan, pan-pan,” the frantic marine radiotelephone message began on Channel 16 and 2182 kilohertz frequencies, “all stations, all stations, all stations, this is the freighter Yutian, People’s Republic of China, two hundred three nautical miles east of Mogadishu, proceeding southwest toward Mumbasa, Kenya, at twelve knots. A small motor vessel is about three miles west of us and we can see men armed with automatic weapons and RPGs on board. We believe they are Somali pirates and they mean to board this vessel. Requesting immediate assistance from any nearby Combined Task Force warships. Over.” The radio operator repeated the message, adding the freighter’s geographical coordiates.
Seventy-six miles to the north, the People’s Liberation Army Navy Luyang-class destroyer Wuhan, part of the multinational Combined Task Force-151 group of over thirty warships and dozens of aircraft from twenty-five nations, responded to the call by launching a Russian-made Kamov Ka-27 antisubmarine warfare helicopter. As part of the CTF-151 tasking, the Ka-27 had a chin-mounted sea radar and was armed with a smoke-rocket launcher on one hardpoint and a 7.62-millimeter machine gun on the other.
Nearly an hour later, the Ka-27 approached the freighter. The helicopter was manned by a pilot and copilot plus two Chinese marines acting as observers. “ Wuhan, this is Patrol Unit Three,” the pilot radioed, “we are approaching the Yutian, and we have the suspect vessel in sight. It is a ten-meter open-hull motor vessel with two armed persons aboard. There is a rope ladder on the Yutian’s port side midships at the low-ramp gunwale and the suspect vessel appears to be tied to the Yutian.
Four suspects are holding about a dozen crewmembers at gunpoint near the bow. We are fifteen minutes until bingo fuel. Request instructions.”
“Patrol Three, this is Wuhan, you are authorized to fire warning smoke at the suspect vessel,” came the reply. “Remain well clear of hostile fire. We are dispatching another patrol helicopter and are under way toward your position.”
“Acknowledged,” the pilot responded. On intercom he said, “Prepare for smoke-rocket launches from the port launcher, crew.” Flying about a half mile from the freighter, the pilot armed his weapon panel, pedal-turned slightly right, and pressed the red button atop his control stick three times, firing three forty-millimeter unguided rockets ahead of the freighter’s track.
“ Wuhan, this Patrol Three, I have fired three smoke rockets ahead of the freighter,” the pilot radioed. “It was clearly observed by the suspects. The suspects on the boat are not moving. The suspects holding the hostages are waving their AK-47s at me. They-” He stopped his narration in shock when he saw one of the pirates, who appeared to be no more than a teenager, turn back to the hostages, lower his AK-47 to his hip, and fire, cutting down the first row of hostages. “The pirates are killing hostages!” he screamed on the radio. “They are murdering them!”
“Patrol Three, Patrol Three, remain clear of hostile fire!” the commander of the Wuhan radioed.
But the Ka-27 pilot couldn’t hear him, or ignored him if he did. Instead, he pedal-turned to the right, moved in closer to the freighter, and squeezed the trigger on his control stick. The 7.62-millimeter machine gun on his starboard-side pylon chugged to life. The pilot carefully walked the bullet hits up the side of the freighter and across the deck, killing two of the pirates and scattering the others. “Take that, you murderous bastards!” the pilot shouted. “Take-”
